Pipe bomb attack: Man accused of attempted murder

A 20-year-old man is due in court today charged with attempting to murder three people at the offices of the SDLP and with membership of a terrorist organisation.

The first charge relates to a pipe bomb attack on SDLP offices on the Antrim Road in north Belfast on January 11, 2001.

The three people were at a meeting in the office at the time of the attack but escaped uninjured.

The man has also been charged in connection with another pipe bomb attack at the home of the UDA’s East Antrim commander, John Gregg, in Newtownabbey on December 22, 2002.

He has been accused of membership of the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used in the past by the UDA and LVF.

Gregg, a bitter enemy of Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was shot dead earlier this year as he returned home from a Glasgow Rangers match.

His home in Nendrum Gardens in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey had been attacked on a number of occasions before his murder.